Dive Brief:

• Summer hiring is up and employers are moving fast on it, a Snag survey shows. Nearly half of employers (46%) are raising wages to compete for talent, and 95% are adding extra shifts to their seasonal job openings. The "State of the Hourly Worker report" also found that one-third of the employers surveyed already completed hiring by the end of April, compared to 27% last year, and the majority (82%) plan to complete their hiring in May.
• Employers are offering more full-time jobs and healthcare and paid time off (PTO) benefits to attract talent, the survey shows. Companies are also offering higher wages than is mandated; 74% plan to pay a wage of $11 per hour or more this year, compared to 53% of employers last year.
• Employers don't seem to be worried about getting enough applicants, as 60% anticipate more applicants this year compared to last year. On the flip side, more businesses (40%) plan to use E-Verify to establish applicants' work eligibility, up from 25% in 2017.

​Dive Insight:

This year's news on summer hiring is better overall than last year's, based on a 2017 CareerBuilder report. But the tough market may finally be driving up wages, which have remained stagnant for some time. Generally, employers are finding that people, even in their own industries, are beginning to favor general wage increases — which may prompt some employers into action, especially to secure summer job placements.

However, as a microcosm of the current employment situation, companies that rely on seasonal workers through H-2B visas might not be as lucky. In March, Congress raised the H-2B visa cap as part of the latest omnibus spending bill, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has yet to release the extra visas. Many restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions that depend heavily on non-immigrant H-2B visa holders during the summer might not get the number of workers they need to operate, creating serious solvency concerns in certain industries across the country.

While the arguments over whether or not Americans are willing to take those jobs continue, employers that offer a solid employee experience in this tight job market — even for temporary or contingent workers, which are increasingly a solution for seasonal hiring, as well — may have a leg up on the competition.